OPEN-O Reaches Release 1.0 as Member Count Grows

The OPEN-Orchestrator Project (OPEN-O), which is developing an open source software framework and orchestrator to enable agile SDN and NFV operations, reached an important milestone - Release 1.0 is now available.

OPEN-O Release 1.0, which is called "SUN", the gap between virtualized functions and connectivity services for brownfield environments for both residential and enterprise virtualized customer premises equipment (vCPE) use cases.

"OPEN-O Release 1.0 was successfully delivered in only five months since the initial formation of the project,” stated OPEN-O Executive Director Marc Cohn. "The global collaboration among leading operators and vendors has resulted in one of the fastest growing open source networking projects, with contributions from over 125 developers."

OPEN-O membership now stands at 13. Premier members include three major operators: China Mobile, China Telecom, and Hong Kong Telecom (HKT), along with Ericsson, GigaSpaces, Huawei, Intel, and ZTE. General members include Canonical, Cloudbase Solutions, InfoBlox, Raisecom, and Red Hat.

OPEN-O also announced that Xiaodong Duan, Director of the Department of Network Technology for China Mobile Research Institute, was elected the Chair of the OPEN-O Governing Board, joining Treasurer Amir Levy of GigaSpaces.

https://www.open-o.org/news/announcement/2016/11/open-o-bridges-gap-between-sdn-and-nfv-release-10

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BT Picks Nuage for SD-WAN

BT has selected Nuage Networks from Nokia for its future software defined WAN service. An intitial launch is planned for early 2017. Financial terms were not disclosed.

BT said its SD-WAN service is specifically being developed to serve global organisations using a cloud-based IT consumption model and will complement BT’s existing IP and Ethernet VPN offering.

In the coming months, BT will unveil further details of its roadmap for other software-defined services, aligning to the SDN capabilities that are being introduced in BT’s cloud-service nodes. These will enable organisations to control both their network connectivity and hosted applications from a single SDN-automated infrastructure.

Also coming, BT’s SD-WAN services will integrate with new virtual services that will include ‘try before you buy’ capabilities and be consumed on a utility basis. Virtual Customer Premises Equipment (vCPE) capabilities will provide integrated 'branch in a box' services, using the centralised automation of SD-WAN. And, with this, customers will be able to simultaneously control their on-premise and network applications.

Chet Patel, president of global portfolio & marketing, BT, said: “We aim to be the leading global cloud of clouds services integrator for our customers. As part of that strategy, we are now leveraging our expertise in SDN and NFV technology and using the breadth and depth of our global network infrastructure to enhance further our portfolio of dynamic network services. To offer more choice to our customers, we are constantly reinforcing an ecosystem of world-class partners. We are therefore happy to announce today that we will integrate the technology of Nuage Networks from Nokia into our SD-WAN offering. This is an important stage in a journey that will ultimately give BT customers unparalleled choice, security, resilience, service, and agility in the roll out of high performance networks designed for the age of the cloud.”

http://www.btplc.com/news/#/pressreleases/bt-accelerates-global-investment-in-dynamic-network-services-1635474

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ADVA Debuts One Network Edge Portfolio

ADVA Optical Networking unveiled its One Network Edge portfolio of devices designed to help service providers respond to growing demand for high-value communication solutions.

ADVA's One Network Edge, which utilizes the ADVA FSP 150 product family, combines a mixture of hardware and software that ensures quick and easy service implementation with low operational impact. One Network Edge simplifies the challenge of security, synchronization and service demarcation. The portfolio will include edge devices to suit various edge applications.

“When we talk to service providers, there’s always one issue, one frustration – the network edge is too fragmented, too complex; it’s limiting their ability to meet customer demands and new business opportunities. This is the genesis of One Network Edge,” commented Stephan Rettenberger, VP, marketing and investor relations, ADVA Optical Networking. “Ultimately, One Network Edge is the next step of the journey for our FSP 150 product family. It’s the evolution of a technology that has continually garnered industry praise and topped analysts’ charts of Ethernet access devices (EADs). Our FSP 150 has the highest installed base of any EAD in the industry. We’ve taken all of this experience, all of this knowledge and created something game changing. One Network Edge offers customers something unique in the industry, something that will help them to take their next steps. It’s all about building one network together.”

http://www.advaoptical.com/en/newsroom/press-releases-english/20161107-adva-optical-networking-introduces-one-network-edge

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Zayo Acquires Silicon Valley Data Center for $12.8 Million

Zayo has acquired a data center in Santa Clara, California - its first in Silicon Valley - for $12.8 million. Zayo has 1,500 route miles of fiber in the SF Bay Area.

The facility, located at 5101 Lafayette Street, includes 26,900 total square feet and three megawatts (MW) of critical power. The location is adjacent to the recently completed Levi’s Stadium and connects to multiple data centers in Silicon Valley via Zayo-owned fiber assets. The facility also includes high-efficiency power and cooling infrastructure, seismic reinforcement to “1.5” and proximity to Zayo’s long haul dark fiber routes between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The acquisition will contribute over $1 million in incremental annualized adjusted EBITDA.

“We have long targeted Northern California as an expansion opportunity for our zColo data center business. The quality and high-power density of this facility is perfectly matched to the requirements of our leading-edge, Bay Area customers,” said Chris Morley, COO at Zayo.

http://www.zayo.com

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Windstream to Acquire Earthlink for $1.1 Billion

Windstream will acquire Earthlink in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $1.1 billion, including debt. Upon closing of the transaction, Windstream shareholders will own approximately 51 percent and EarthLink shareholders will own approximately 49 percent of the combined company.

The combined company will have increased scale and scope giving it the ability to leverage best practices across a broader platform, and offer customers expanded products, services and enhanced enterprise solutions. The combination

The merger will result in an extensive national footprint spanning approximately 145,000 fiber route miles and provide advanced network connectivity, managed services, voice, internet and other value-added services. The deal brings together Windstream’s scale in the Enterprise segment and EarthLink’s newly-launched SD-WAN service.

“The combination with EarthLink further advances Windstream’s strategy by creating a stronger, more competitive business to serve our customers while increasing free cash flow and reducing leverage,” said Tony Thomas, president and chief executive officer at Windstream. “With this transaction, we are combining two highly complementary organizations with closely aligned operating strategies and business unit structures. We look forward to working with the talented EarthLink team to create significant benefits and drive value for all of our stakeholders.”

The companies cited approximately $900 million from synergies, plus tax benefits, including more than $125 million in annual operating and capital expense synergies that are expected to be fully realized within 36 months of closing.

http://www.windstream.com
http://www.earthlink.com

• Windstream is based in Little Rock, Arkansas. The company was founded in 2000 as Valor Telecom through through the takeover of Verizon's GTE' southwest assets. It adopted the Windstream name in 2006 with the acquisition of Alltell's landline business.
• Earthlink was founded in 1994 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Noviflow Scales Up its OpenFlow Switching

NoviFlow, a start-up based in Montreal, released a new version of OpenFlow 1.3/1.4/1.5 switching software aimed at large-scale networks.
Key new features of NoviWare supporting large-scale deployment introduced in release 400.1 include:

• OpenFlow queues and up to one million meters for use with QoS mechanisms
• Dynamic provisioning of ports in LAG
• Plug-and-Play deployment support for large installations:
  - Switch IP address default set via DHCP
• - gRPC for remote automated provisioning
• OpenFlow Experimenter-based extensions:
  - VLAN payload matching
  - Symmetric Hash of Fields

400.1 NoviWare fully supports the OpenFlow 1.3 standard and 1.4, including all actions, instructions and match fields, as well as key features of OpenFlow 1.5, such as Copy-Fields action.

"Since the founding of NoviFlow in 2012 as a spin-out from UQAM, our goal has always been to design and deliver SDN solutions that leverage Network Processors to offer both unsurpassed programmability and wire-speed performance, a major innovation in networking equipment. Today, the inherent advantage of this approach has been proven in the field via deployments of our products at a host of major network operators and cloud operators, resulting in ever-increasing demand for our solutions.”

NoviFlow’s products are being used as switches, WAN IP/MPLS routers, network appliances and other high-performance forwarding planes.

http://noviflow.com/products/noviware/

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Dolan Family Ventures Sets Sights on Tech Start-ups

Dolan Family Ventures, a new investment company founded by Kristin and James L. Dolan, announced that it is seeking investment opportunities in data, analytics and technology-based businesses.

DFV will be led by Kristin Dolan, who is a founder and the Managing Partner. Ms. Dolan most recently served as Chief Operating Officer of Cablevision Systems Corporation, leading all aspects of the company’s cable operations, overseeing thousands of employees, including the company’s entire customer and field service workforce. Among other responsibilities, she oversaw Cablevision Media Sales, the company’s advertising sales division.

http://www.dfv.tv/

• Cablevision was founded in the 1960s by Charles Dolan. Cablevision was acquired by Altice in June 2016 for $17.7 billion.

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Telia Carrier Expands Backbone to Zagreb

Telia Carrier has activatd a new point of presence (PoP) in Zagreb, Croatia, now providing wholesale IP transit and Ethernet services for carriers, content and cloud providers.

Telia Carrier said the new PoP allows it to expand the reach of its top-two ranked global IP backbone, AS1299, to Croatia and adjacent countries.

"Telia Carrier is dedicated to delivering a responsive, connected experience to address the continued demand in the Eastern European market," said Jerzy Wilisowski, director of sales, Europe at Telia Carrier. "By moving into Zagreb, in addition to existing PoPs in Budapest and Vienna, Telia Carrier strengthens its presence in a high growth IP transit market in Croatia, and improves the customer experience for those using online gaming and content services provided in the region."

http://teliacarrier.com

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